A year ago, Wesleyan delivered one of two losses in consecutive weeks suffered by Shepherd, and quarterback Adam Neugebauer, who won conference offensive player of the year honors, threw the ball 66 times against the Rams. Zane Zebrasky also threw a pass.

The Bobcats completed 42 of the 67 tosses for 441 yards and six touchdowns in their 45-44 overtime victory.

It was a game Shepherd would soon like to forget - especially how it ended.

Wesleyan scored first in overtime. The Rams also scored in overtime and kicked the apparent game-tying extra point. However, when a penalty against Wesleyan was called on the point-after try, the Rams chose to have the ball moved forward, and Shepherd took an opportunity to go for two and win the game right away.

Tommy Addison was stopped on a running play short of the goal, ending the game and, in the end, finishing Shepherd's run to a playoff spot.

The 4-1 Rams, the lone undefeated squad in league play, are positioned at the moment to reach the postseason , though they must continue to win. Any stumble likely diminishes any postseason possibility.

"It was a good play," Cater said. "Whether you like to remember it or not, when you look at the film, you're going to be reminded."

A reminder the Rams can do without, but they will be quickly reminded today of Wesleyan's attack that is fixated on moving the football through the air.

Montana is averaging more than 40 passes per game for the 2-3 Bobcats.

"Neugebauer was really good, polished and had a great feel for their offense," Cater said. "He had been pulling the trigger for a long time.

"Montana, he was getting used to it early, but it's not like it's his first ballgame."

It's not like it's Shepherd's first ballgame either.

Since yielding 38 points to undefeated Shippensburg in its first game, the Rams have held the next four opponents to a total of 29 points and have staunch against the rush. They rank among the national top five.

"We haven't given up much," Cater said.

Shepherd nullified Wesleyan's running attack last season, holding it to minus-15 yards on 18 attempts. It didn't keep the Rams from winning the game, however.

Wesleyan's top rusher, Malcolm Yowk, has 188 yards on the ground on 46 carries. That's not even 40 yards per game.

The Bobcats are going to throw, and they are going to throw some more. Wesleyan will keep throwing.

A key for Shepherd is making tackles and not extending underneath routes, nor allowing Wesleyan's receivers to get behind its defensive backs -something that's happened to Shepherd at times this season..

Chase Blackwell, Lavaughn Hughes and Donte Boston have all caught more than 20 passes thus far.

"They're going to stretch you, so we want to make them keep everything in front," Cater said. "That's one of the things we got to do."

And the Rams want to play keepaway, using its offense to keep Wesleyan's offense off the field.

Shepherd had a couple time-consuming, quality possessions last week in a win over Concord, the other team that defeated the Rams in 2011, and was able to keep the Mountain Lions' offense sidelined. Shepherd intercepted four passes a week ago, three of them by linebackers.

Cater often says his best defense is his offense - holding on to the ball for a long duration.

"They're going to complete some passes," Cater said. "We got to find a way to have some success with our offense."

Shepherd's running game has been improving over the season as the line has grown accostomed to each other and the running backs have found their places in the pecking order.

Original starter Kevin Williams is gone for the season, his backup, Jihad Rasheed has been injured, so the Rams have been forced to go deep into their depth chart. Mike Haynes and Marcus Smoot have filled in the gaps, but the Rams also needed to call on true freshman Allen Cross to help carry the load.

Cross ran for a touchdown last week to put the Rams in the lead for good against Concord. He rushed 13 times for 34 yards.

The Rams are averaging 134 yards rushing. They are producing almost 200 yards through the air behind quarterback Bobby Cooper and a talented receiving corps.

"It's a work in progress," Cater said.

It's what Shepherd has to do, though. It's all hands on deck.

Because of injuries a year ago, Shepherd moved a linebacker to defensive back when the Rams played Wesleyan. D.J. Scott returned to the lineup a week ago and returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown.

"We can't use the excuse that some guys are hurt, because that was the deal last year," Cater said. "We got to play with the next guy. ... We have some good players and the next one has to step up."

With a conference title on the line, even though it's still early, and playoff positioning still at stake, even though it's still early, Shepherd needs its whole team "to step up."